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Intel followed up the 12 acquisitions it made in 1999 to boost its communications product portfolio by making two new ones on Thursday.

Intel followed up the 12 acquisitions it made in 1999 to boost its communications product portfolio by making two new ones on Thursday.

The chip giant agreed to buy Thinkit Technologies, based in Bangalore, India, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Software & Silicon Systems, a privately held developer of chips that are used in such networking and communications devices as switches and routers.

But it also bought Ambient Technologies, which develops DSL based processors and analogue modems to supply high speed Internet access to home users and small businesses, for $150 million in cash.

Mark Christensen, vice president and general manager of Intel's Network Communications Group, said: "Adding Thinkit's new silicon design expertise provides Intel with additional resources for advancing the Intel Internet Exchange (IIE) architecture. This in turn will help enable networking and communications system companies to build faster, more intelligent networks."

IIE was launched last September to act as a blueprint for building networking equipment. It makes use of programmable silicon to enable users to add new functions to networking equipment cost effectively and quickly.

When the acquisition is complete, Thinkit will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel and will reside in the company's Network Communications Group. It will become one of more than a dozen communications chip design facilities that Intel owns worldwide.

Ambient, on the other hand, will provide Intel with a new chipset to deliver simultaneous DSL and high speed analogue modem capabilities in one device.

Fred Schuckert, Ambient's chief executive, will continue as the unit's general manager. Ambient will sit in Intel's Network Interface Division as another wholly owned subsidiary.